240 
Mr. W. L. Sclater on Birds collected 
country. It frequents long grass and bushes in the vicinity 
of native lands, often occurring in flocks of considerable 
numbers, which do no inconsiderable amount of damage to 
crops of millet and oats. The flight is straight and rather fast, 
even with males in breeding-dress. I did not discover a 
nest. Apparently the breeding-dress is not assumed till the 
second summer, as a male shot in December is in full winter 
dress, and another shot in March was in worn plumage and 
had evidently passed through the breeding-season in a parti¬ 
coloured dress. 
The soft parts are:— 
d , in summer . Irides hazel ; bill and legs and toes black. 
$ , in winter , and ad. $ . Bill, legs and toes horny 
brown.] 
77. Vidua principalis. 
Z. Sibudeni, Oct., Nov. (9) ; Tv. Wakkerstroom, Mch., 
Apl. (4); Legogot, Apl., May (3); Woodbush, Nov., Jan. 
(2); Pietersburg, Feb. (1); P. Beira, Dec. (2); Tamba- 
rara, Apl. (2). 
The males moult in March; one collected at Wakker- 
stroom on March 4 has only one long tail-feather left, though 
still keeping the body-plumage intact. Three other males 
from the same place, dated March 10 and 23 and April 11, 
shew the gradual change of the male into the winter dress, 
which closely resembles that of the female. 
[ u Hlegwane 39 of Zulus. 
The Pin-tailed Widow-bird was noted commonly in Natal 
and Zululand, the South-Eastern, Eastern, and North- 
Eastern Transvaal, and the Beira and Gorongoza districts of 
the Portuguese country. It usually frequents the vicinity 
of native lands and gardens, where it is found in small 
flocks of about half a dozen, comprising both sexes. The 
call is “ zwee-zwee ” quickly uttered, and the flight is slow 
and jerky, especially that of males in breeding-dress; the 
food consists principally of the seeds of various grasses and 
plants. 
The soft parts are :—Irides hazel; bill bright red ; legs 
and toes dark brown.] 
